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Promoter Eddie Hearn is floating the idea of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vacating his IBF welterweight title and moving up to 154 to face former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov or former WBC interim champ Serhii Bohachuk next.
Hearn’s Clout-Chasing
Fans believe that Hearn is just clout-chasing, throwing out Madrimov and Bohachuk’s names with no intention of having Boots vacate his IBF 147-lb title to move up to 154 to face those dangerous predators. Those guys hit too hard and are too tough and advanced for the young lion cub, Boots.
If Hearn thought Ennis could swim with the sharks at 154, he’d have already had him vacate his IBF trinket a long time ago and move up because there is absolutely no one on earth for Boots to fight at the thinned-out 147-lb division. It’s empty, barren, and a wasteland.
Ennis’s staying at welterweight protects him from the lurking predators at 154 who would expose him and ruin things. The welterweight division is like the planet Venus, totally devoid of life. Hence, Boots is quite happy to stay there.
Boots will likely defend against Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch on November 9th. It’s an easy fight for Boots, and it won’t cost Hearn an arm and a leg to put together. That’s the fight Hearn seems interested in, but he won’t admit it.
Stubborn Negotiations
Hearn doesn’t like the idea of Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) facing his ordered rematch against IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th in Philadelphia. However, he could still salvage the plans for a unification fight against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. if he sweetens the $1.7 million offer by bringing it up a mere $500K to $2.2 million.
Still, Hearn is stubbornly holding his ground, refusing to agree to the request of Team Norman Jr. in what some boxing fans believe is to protect his profit margins for the Boots-Norman Jr. fight. Althougy Hearn says that the money that Norman Jr. would receive would essentially make it a 50-50 split with Boots Ennis for the November 9th fight, fans believe that Jaron is getting Shakur money of $5 million.
Norman Jr., wanting $2.2 million on top of the $5 million that Boots could be getting, would trim the profit margins for the event unless His Excellency Turki Alalshikh were willing to come to Hearn’s rescue.
The Dead Fight
“It’s dead [Boots-Norman fight]. We either fight Chukhadzhian, or we Vacate. I want [Boots] to unify the [147-lb] division, but I’ve got a plan to do a monster card in November,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to the IFL TV YouTube channel when asked what he does with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis now that his unification fight against Brian Norman Jr. is no longer happening for November 9th.
The Ennis-Norman Jr. is dead only because of Hearn’s ham-handed approach to negotiating the fight. If this were the American master, Bob Arum, he’d find a way to put that clash together instantly, but he’s experienced and doesn’t let his emotions get in the way of match-making.
“So, let’s see how the purse bid goes [for Boots vs. Karen Chukhadzhian rematch],” said Hearn.” I also have no problems with Boots moving to 154 pounds. I’ve reached out to [Serhii] Bohachuk. I think that’s a great fight. You’ve got Israil Madrimov. You’ve got some great fights at 154 outside of the champions.”
Again, Hearn isn’t going to let Boots move up to 154 to tangle with Madrimov or Bohachuk because he’s got to know he would either lose or get beaten out of him by those two. We saw what Madrimov did to Terence Crawford and what Bohachuk did to Vergil Ortiz Jr. Hearn doesn’t want that to happen to Boots.
“I would love to fight a champion, but we’ve got some decisions to make over the next 24 hours,” said Hearn. “But the decisions will not include Brian Norman, [his manager] Adrian [Clark] or Derrick. I’d love to do a fight with them, but sometimes you miss the boat. Maybe it all works out, and we do a unification, but he won’t be getting any more money,” said Hearn.
So, Hearn has failed Boots Ennis again, just like he did with Demetrius Andrade and like he’s doing with Shakur Stevenson. If you’re Ennis, you can’t be happy hearing Hearn taking a miserly Scrooge McDuck approach to setting up fights for him. Being stuck fighting Karen again because Hearn doesn’t want to sweeten the pot a mere $500K to $2.2 million for the Norman fight can’t make him happy.
“That’s it. That’s the money, but it’s alright. He [Norman Jr] can fight on Keyshawn’s undercard for 200 bags [thousand against Derreick Cuevas on November 8th],” said Hearn.
Obviously, Hearn could easily come up with the extra $500K that Norman Jr wants for the fight with Boots Ennis, but he won’t do it. He’d rather Boots fight Karen than give up the profits and put him in a risky fight he might lose. Would Hearn do it if it were Anthony Joshua? You bet you, but keeping AJ happy is crucial.
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